The present invention relates to an electrical connector having means for assuring positive seating of contacts therein.
Pin and socket connectors of the type sold under the name MATE-N-LOK by AMP Incorporated have pin or socket contacts therein which are used to terminate wires coaxially crimped thereto. The contacts are situated in cavities through a housing constructed for mated connection with a complementary housing of another connector assembly.
There is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 307,997 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,048 a connector assembly as described above which employs a housing having cavities therethrough which receive the mating portions of respective contacts, and a retainer with passages therethrough which are assembled over respective wires. The retainer is latched to the rearward face of the housing to retain the contacts therein and assure that respective mating portions thereof are not unseated sufficiently to preclude mating with a complementary contact in a complementary connector. Improper seating is discovered by unlatching the retainer from the housing, the frictional force of the retainer on the wires causing improperly seated contacts to be withdrawn from the housing. Disadvantageously, the retainer can be fully mated to the housing while one or more contacts therein are not fully seated.